The Conflict in Iraq’s ‘No-Fly Zone’
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TERRITORY: The zone below the 32nd Parallel is mainly marshlands around the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The marshes cover about 6,000 square miles, the size of Hawaii. The region includes Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city with 1.5 million people.
UPRISING: Shiite Muslims, about 55% of Iraq’s 17 million people, have been fighting in the south against Saddam Hussein’s government since March, 1991. A rebellion after Iraq’s Persian Gulf War defeat was crushed. Hussein launched an offensive in April.
FORCES: The Iraqi army is believed to have deployed 50,000 to 100,000 troops in its offensive, as well as tanks, heavy artillery, warplanes and helicopter gunships. An estimated 10,000 lightly armed guerrillas are holed up in the marshes.
SHIITES are a Muslim sect at odds with mainstream Sunnis, who form the ruling minority in Iraq.
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